Isaiah 41:7

41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,

the one who wields the hammer encourages ¹  the one who pounds on the anvil.

He approves the quality of the welding, ² 

and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”

Isaiah 42:16

42:16 I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; ³ 

I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. ⁴ 

I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,

and level out the rough ground. ⁵ 

This is what I will do for them.

I will not abandon them.

Isaiah 49:26

49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;

they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. ⁶ 

Then all humankind ⁷  will recognize that

I am the Lord, your deliverer,

your protector, ⁸  the powerful ruler of Jacob.” ⁹ 

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ¹⁰  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ¹¹ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ¹² 

Isaiah 58:13

58:13 You must ¹³  observe the Sabbath ¹⁴ 

rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. ¹⁵ 

You must look forward to the Sabbath ¹⁶ 

and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. ¹⁷ 

You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,

and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. ¹⁸ 

[41:7]  ¹ tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[41:7]  ² tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”

[42:16]  ³ tn Heb “a way they do not know” (so NASB); NRSV “a road they do not know.”

[42:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “in paths they do not know I will make them walk.”

[42:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the rough ground into a level place.”

[49:26]  ⁵ sn Verse 26a depicts siege warfare and bloody defeat. The besieged enemy will be so starved they will their own flesh. The bloodstained bodies lying on the blood-soaked battle site will look as if they collapsed in drunkenness.

[49:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB).

[49:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.” See 1:24.

[57:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[58:13]  ⁹ tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in v. 13), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.

[58:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”

[58:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”

[58:13]  ¹² tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”

[58:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).

[58:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:30).